I'm wondering if anyone has, or has had, similar symptoms, and if anyone knows what may be the cause of my problems, and if a Paleo diet has helped anyone with similar symptoms

Background:
1) 42 year old male
2) of germanic, scottish, irish descent
3) fair skinned, mostly dry-skinned (my nose being the only exception - it's always oily).
4) am about 35 pounds overweight, but I hide it well due to my small bone structure - I'm tall with a thin frame - all my excess weight is around the belly.
5) had fairly severe acne in my teens, took accutane at age 18, which cleared it up - no real acne problems since.

(when I took accutane, while on the medication - my face turned to a glowing red color)

Problem:
similar to the time I took accutane, and since my early twenties, my face is always red and dry.  I don't recall having a red face after the time I stopped accutane until my early to mid twenties.  So, I only mention accutane because I had a red face while taking it, and I wonder if there is a connection.

Sometimes my cheeks are more red than other parts of my face, but often it is my entire face that has a red tint to it.

My skin is dry all over my body - especially on my face, but I don't have a problem with redness anywhere else.  My scalp is also very dry and flaky.

After I shower (usually take a warm shower), my face is really patchy-red, including my forehead.  After drying off, the skin on my face has a white color to it (dry skin).  I use a mild bar soap (cetaphil).  If I put any oil or moisturizer on my face - including jojoba - my skin reacts to it and gets really patchy looking.  Again, the rest of my body is not affected, and I can use pretty much any kind of moisturizer on any other part of my body.

Other common or recurring problems I have:
1) achy bones,
2) diarrhea, almost daily or every other day
2) migraines (typically when the seasons change),
3) low motivation, and
4) I have severe floaters in my eyes - little cells in the fluid of my eyes that block my vision and appear as floating, dark, cell-shaped dark spots.
5) daily heartburn / indigestion

A friend of ours (a psychologist) has labelled me as ADHD (though I don't accept the label )

I'm self-employed, and don't have the money or insurance to see a doctor.  However, I have seen a couple of family doctors over the years.  One said that my face is the face God gave me, so don't worry about it.  The other gave me a prescription for a topical treatment, Metrogel (Metronidazole).  This did help the redness but I couldn't use it long because one isn't allowed to be in direct sunlight for long periods with it, and I was working outside at the time.

I appreciate any comments and help!

EDIT: modified my symptoms

It sounds very similar to what I had, though no acne, so never had accutane or the like. I was told it was rosacea. I'm 55 now and had it since my twenties, though it got a lot worse when I was about 35.

Stress definitely makes it worse, the first thing I did that helped was to use meditation/relaxation techniques for that.

However what I think made the biggest difference was to stop using shampoo, or any products on my hair. Took a while to adjust but my hair is looking better than ever now. It's been over a year now and I only use water to wash my hair.

The next thing I did was go paleo. Within about 3 months my skin was looking, and feeling, a lot better. I still get the occasional redness on the outside of my nostrils, but nothing compared to the redness/itchiness I used to get all over my face at times. I'm now nearly 9 months in and people who know me well from way back comment on how "normal" my face looks. Makes me wonder what they thought of me before, lol.

I wouldn't use ANY cleanser on my face, even the special dermatological ones used to cause me problems. Aloe vera gel was the only thing I sometimes used, but that tended to be too drying.

I would definitely give the diet a try and put as little as possible on your face. I don't know what you'd do about shaving, at least I don't have that problem.

Research rosacea and see if it sounds like what you have.

Good luck.

Just to clarify:  you have these symptoms with paleo, or you have these symptoms without paleo and you're wondering if paleo would help?

No, I'm just now transitioning to paleo (gave it a short try about a year ago, but wife was fighting me about it... now she's on board)

I'm wondering if anyone here has similar issues, what they determined to be the cause, and if Paleo lessened the symptoms or if the symptoms went away altogether.

sounds like eczema.  I get it mainly on my face, too, and the skin is very sensitive to what I put on it

Stop using soap or any kind of detergent on your face.  Use oil-based cleansers instead

I think some people here have stopped using any cleansers at all - that seems like it would be "dirty", but I'm willing to try anything

Stop using hot water on the face
avoid any water on the face unless it's soft or distilled or deionised

our water is soft, so that's a plus

High fat paleo will help.  It is very important to give up wheat, dairy, alcohol and seed oils

Is Olive oil okay?

After months of paleo, alot of my problems still didn't clear up.  I was told that I might have digestive problems from 26 years on a SAD diet, and that digestive enzymes might help. I guess the Lipase enzyme specifically helps to digest the fat which then helps to regulate the skins oils.

Hey stringchopper, I have (well had) same bodyshape as you -tall and thin boned. I've been on paleo type diet about ten weeks as an experiment. Weight loss wasn't particularly a goal, I believed I was 7-8 lb overweight. Well I have lost 10kg (mostly from my belly) so paleo should help from that regard.
 I have to say my red face is from excess beer drinking which is still my worst paleolithic offence although I am much improved from my old boozing.

You need to read my website http://www.eczemacure.info and learn the principles of ABSOLUTE cure.  Look for the eczema cure protocol there.

My cure protocol is buy 1 Cure ALL.  And I write it all for FREE.

Your paleo diet must be RAW paleo diet as is taught in http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com  with high amounts of raw fat.  You can use raw fermented butter oil and raw fermented cod liver oil from green pastures if you at the start are skittish about raw fat consumption.

You can begin with cooked paleo diet, then rare paleo diet (here in http://www.cavemanforum.com ), then raw paleo diet.  Just remember that it is raw that will deliver the most powerful blows that can never be imagined by the medical drug cartel.  And I'd like you to challenge your doctors that you can do 1,000% better than them.

Nutrition is KING.

You will need to do some detox protocols.

Some fasting protocols may be in your future like diluted orange juice and raw fertilized eggs.

You can see in my eczema cure blog how I am able to cure just very recently my own 10 year old boy. 

You might also like to pay attention and read up on the story of Luke with psoriasis in Poland on how he cured himself with raw paleo diet and detoxing.